I dunno, it sounds like he is a bit intimidating. Perhaps he doesn't mean to be, but from the sounds if it you did feel pretty intimidated by him and his attentions toward you.

Now I suppose you know he does actually understand your point of view, and you understand that he comes on a bit hard, you can work to smooth things over.

I mean, it is intimidating when people come on too hard. It's understandable that you reacted the way you did.

At least now you know that that's just how he is, and you can both work to try to deal with that. Sometimes it might be awkward, but dealing with people is frequently awkward.

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A statement was released today by U.S. President Obama on the Affordable Health Care for America Act.

“I congratulate the House of Representatives on the introduction of the Affordable Health Care for America Act, another critical milestone in the effort to reform our health care system.

"This legislation is the product of unprecedented cooperation and countless hours of hard work by Speaker Pelosi, Chairmen Waxman, Rangel, and Miller, Congressman Dingell, and scores of House members who share my conviction that we can’t wait another year for health insurance reform. They have forged a strong consensus that represents a historic step forward.

"The House legislation includes critical reforms to the insurance industry, so that Americans will no longer have to worry that they will be denied coverage, or that their coverage will be dropped or watered down when they need it most. I’m also pleased that the bill includes a public option offered in an exchange. As I’ve said throughout this process, a public option that competes with private insurers is the best way to ensure choice and competition that are so badly needed in today’s market. And the House bill clearly meets two of the fundamental criteria I have set out: it is fully paid for and will reduce the deficit in the long term.

"While we know there will may more steps and much spirited debate before a bill reaches my desk, I congratulate the House on their work so far, and I’m confident that members will continue to work together to deliver meaningful reform for America’s families and businesses.”

You can check out the original brief (which is exactly what I posted above anyway) on the White House Press Office Website.

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I dunno, the Acmlmboards I've used haven't had a good track record when it comes to security either. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've seen every iteration of AcmlmBoard I've ever used experience a hack of some sort.

I would probably avoid picking phpBB as my first forum choice too, because of its ubiquity around the web. I do know phpBB can polish up very nice when the themes are hacked to shreds. In fact phpBB can be made to look very pretty, but it takes a LOT of time and effort.

But yeah, if a client were to come to me tomorrow asking for a web forum, I certainly wouldn't pick an AcmlmBoard. I don't think it will scale that well, it lacks the security, maturity, and robustness for me to recommend to a client that's paying $40,000, has a high-end website, and wants it (close to) bulletproof.

But if you're making your own RPG or gaming related forum for you and your buddies, it's a great little platform to mess around with and learn some stuff.

It's also a great platform for people who want to learn some basic XHTML and CSS to mess around with—although the layout system is a bit of a double-edged sword.

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Originally posted by Xkeeper

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Originally posted by Tarale

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But yeah, if a client were to come to me tomorrow asking for a web forum, I certainly wouldn't pick an AcmlmBoard. I don't think it will scale that well, it lacks the security, maturity, and robustness for me to recommend to a client that's paying $40,000, has a high-end website, and wants it (close to) bulletproof.

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To be pretty honest when someone IMs me asking for a copy of Acmlmboard for their own site I basically laugh at them. If they still manage to get one I basically just tell them "don't come whining to me whenever it gets hacked".

The way Acmlmboard works in general there are probably several exploits that will never be patched. It's mostly just luck we haven't gotten hit yet.

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Hey, I think it's a great system if someone wants to have a play around I wouldn't recommend it to someone who doesn't already have some PHP, mySQL, and XHTML skills—someone who can take care of a problem if one arises. It can be good for learning basic forum damage control, because there's inevitably some moron that will fuck it all up for you.

I wouldn't give it to someone who doesn't know any PHP and wants to use it to learn. While it works well enough, if you're trying to learn PHP from it, you'll just get teh drain brammage. Same if you're trying to learn XHTML or CSS for that matter…

It might be a fun project for a masochist that wants to look at optimising and securing code.

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Originally posted by Xkeeper

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I take offense to that.

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It's not you. It's more the very ad-hoc nature of its development over the years, the lack of standards and quality assurance, and stuff like that.

All the kinds of things that come with fighting fires and appeasing a userbase over many years.

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Originally posted by Xkeeper

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It might be a fun project for a masochist that wants to look at optimising and securing code.

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That! I mean what do you think I've been doing the last four years? Ugh.

Also since when did you work with $40000 websites

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Part of the problem is that you've got a live forum that you're doing the work on. Makes it harder for you to pull out and rewrite major parts when you've got a userbase that has a hissy fit if you disrupt it. Also, I'm sure we're the most useful and helpful beta-testers in the world, rite? And that's not counting the members of the community that deliberately fuck things up just to get their jollies.

You're a super-duper-mega-masochist.

And yes, some of my projects are up to and inclusive of $40,000. I've been working there nearly a year now. I can't really discuss them in detail on the forum, for (what I hope are) obvious reasons.

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Originally posted by Schala

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I love the GIMP... it's so much better than Photoshop, and best of all, GIMP is open source, unlike Photoshop

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I love the Photoshop, but then it would take me years to re-learn the GIMP('s stupid interface) and it doesn't have the colour-management tools I need.

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Originally posted by Schala

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I also use programs like Inkscape and Blender somewhat often too

Inkscape really comes in handy for making geometric desktop wallpapers...

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Inkscape's not too bad, but then I've found a lot of my knowledge of vector stuff is much more easily transferrable to Inkscape.

With Photoshop to The Gimp, my knowledge and techniques are not as easily transferrable. I guess it's because they've been created with entirely different mindsets. Being pressed for time and already knowing how to do (or at least find the commands for) [x-task] in Photoshop, I'll just do it in Photoshop.

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